Gush Katif Museum opens in Jerusalem

Museum established by SOS-Israel dedicated to commemorating 'crime of the disengagement'. Museum head: We hope visitors will come in smiling and leave with tears in their eyes

Efrat Weiss|Published: 08.12.08 , 11:36

A new museum dedicated to the former Jewish settlements in Gush Katif is expected to open its doors in Jerusalem on Tuesday.

The Gush Katif settlers were evacuated during Israel's unilateral pullout from the Gaza Strip in 2005.

About three years ago, and just three weeks after the disengagement, SOS-Israel organized a conference titled "We won't forgive and won't forget" at the capital's International Convention Center, during which Rabbi Dov Wolpo declared "a Gush Katif museum will be opened in central Jerusalem to preserve the history of the settlement and the crime of its destruction for future generations."

Exhibit in museum (Photo: Tal Solomon)

"We hope visitors will come in smiling and leave with tears in their eyes," one of the museum heads told Ynet, "the entrance is free; it is a mitzvah, so the public will learn what really happened.

"Most Israelis are under the assumption that the Gush Katif settlement included only a few caravans, but the truth is that people's homes and lives were destroyed.

The Jerusalem Municipality said it was "unaware" of the plan to open the museum and is in no way associated with it.

The museum is located at 5 Shaarei Tzedek Street and will be open on days Sunday through Thursday from 9 am to 5 pm (9 am to 2 pm on weekends and holiday's eve). Also, on holidays and vacations from 9 am to 9 pm. For reservations, call 02-6254456. Entrance is at a cost of 15 NIS.